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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Is it in any way possible to work FT, have no cleaner etc AND have a house that does not resemble a landfill site?

55 replies

Tigana · 23/07/2007 15:14

Or am I over-ambitious?
[harrassed]

OP posts:
daisyandbabybootoo · 23/07/2007 15:17

my house is the same, but I'm on maternity leave so no excuse really!

REIDmylips · 23/07/2007 15:19

my house is NEVER tidy anymore! ds is 10 months old, i cant remember it ever being clean and tidy since he was born

popsycal · 23/07/2007 15:19

no imo

Wolfgirl · 23/07/2007 15:22

Not in a million years! Until recently I worked full time, but just gone down to 3 days; gives a much better balance, although dosh a bit tight now.

Hope you find a working solution T. all the best.

bossykate · 23/07/2007 15:24

weeellll, imho, you could have a basically tidy, but not necessarily clean house...

i think that's where we would be in we didn't have a cleaner (both of us work f/t, joint responsibility for chores not done by the cleaner).

what are your specific issues?

snowleopard · 23/07/2007 15:24

No. I only work three days, and ours is a tip and what's more has plaster patches and paper hanging off the walls from where the rewiring was done 6 months ago, and we haven't got round to even starting to fix it. We basically only clean, in a massive hurry, when we have guests or visitors - about 20 mins before they arrive.

Theclosetpagan · 23/07/2007 15:25

Nope - not possible.

MeAndMyMonkey · 23/07/2007 15:27

Possible, but you would not Have A Life. Who cleans in the evenings?

HuwEdwards · 23/07/2007 15:28

And not be totally exhausted? Unfortunately, no.

Tigana · 23/07/2007 15:29

specific issues?
House = heap.

I can just about keep on top of washing/drying/ironing the clothes.

That's it.

There is always washing up needing doing.
There is always dust and grub on the floors.
The kitchen always needs mopping.
There is always a tottering pile of post either waiting to be opened, waiting to be actioned or waiting to be filed/binned.

OP posts:
cece · 23/07/2007 15:29

Mine was tidier when I worked full time as we were all out all day, so no one to mess it up!

cece · 23/07/2007 15:30

I should add it was tidy but not clean

cece · 23/07/2007 15:30

Now I am part time it is clean but not tidy

NineUnlikelyTales · 23/07/2007 15:32

Can you afford a dishwasher? It made a big difference to our kitchen.

Kewcumber · 23/07/2007 15:32

"There is always washing up needing doing.
There is always dust and grub on the floors.
The kitchen always needs mopping.
There is always a tottering pile of post either waiting to be opened, waiting to be actioned or waiting to be filed/binned."

yeah and...?

Burn everything once a month - keeps the clutter down and the rats at bay.

snowleopard · 23/07/2007 15:33

Exactly - if I had a clean & tidy house I would defnitely have no time at all for doing fun creative hobbies (ie self-improvement!), watching films with DP (working on relationship), taking DS out for day trips (bonding and educational!) or having lovely baths (destressing). It would be clean but I'd be a miserable cow. Also on the plus side the grime and cat hair is great for DS's immune system and he's not subjected to the nasty effects of loads of cleaning products and air fresheners.

Tigana · 23/07/2007 15:33

I tried FLYing for a while (minus the barmy life affirming post it notes etc) but spending a week focusing on one room just meant the rest of the house was going even further down the drain in the meantime...
I do like the 15 minutes of a task concept...just can't find 15 sodding minutes!

OP posts:
cece · 23/07/2007 15:34

Get a dishwasher

Ignore the floors, do them once a week at most

Only handle each piece of post once, if you open it do the required action staright away.

bossykate · 23/07/2007 15:36

ok the secret is little and often.

last person up makes the beds.

person who gets kids up makes sure their rooms tidy beds made before anyone goes downstairs.

i do laundry every single day. put load in the evening. In the morning goes into dryer (or before dryer) hang up. in the evening, fold dry laundry, put on next load. in the morning put away folded load from night before, and put on next load.

plan meals and shop on-line.

cook nothing that takes longer than 30 mins from opening fridge door to sit down with food.

re the kitchen being tidy, don't go to bed with a dirty kitchen. unload/load and run dish washer. wipe work surfaces, sweep floor, spot clean if necessary. mop once/twice a week.

admin - set aside one hour per week to do this. most of it will go in recycling - anything that needs to be actioned put in a folder in work bag and do at work during lunch time.

some of the above unfortunately not relevant if you don't have an office job.

honestly, i have learned the hard way, have a routine for tidying up/laundry/admin and do it little and often - there is never time for a big blitz and things just mount up...

hth and good luck.

ps - i would give up a lot before i'd give up my cleaner...

Tigana · 23/07/2007 15:36

"if I had a clean & tidy house I would defnitely have no time at all for doing fun creative hobbies (ie self-improvement!), watching films with DP (working on relationship), taking DS out for day trips (bonding and educational!) or having lovely baths (destressing)."

BUT...I have a filthy, messy house AND no time for creative hobbies, spending time with dh, spending time with ds or lovely baths...I am clearly going very wrong somewhere!

OP posts:
cece · 23/07/2007 15:36

Re the floors, get grey mottled carpet like I had once - it was fantastic, showed no dirt at all - got away without clean for weeks if need be.

snowleopard · 23/07/2007 15:37

Once a week cece? F*ck me.

DP cleaned our kitchen floor recently - it was the first time it had been done since we moved in.... 3 years ago.
(as in actual mopping not just hoovering, which we do about once a month)

To tell the truth though, even though he cleaned it thoroughly, you couldn't tell - it's natural wood floorboards and doesn't look any different.

cece · 23/07/2007 15:38

LOL I was suggetsing this for Tigana as she clearly seems bothered by it! Personally my kitchen floor gets washed every couple of months, the wooden floor in lunge about once a year!

bossykate · 23/07/2007 15:39

didn't mean to sound smug - our house would be tidy but filthy w/o cleaner.

snowleopard · 23/07/2007 15:40

Tigana - I only work 3 days so have 2 weekdays with DS. Also I go to bed at about 1am - hence the films and baths. Spend occasional evenings with friends doing sewing, writing or music stuff - if I'm at home there's usually not time.